The Young and the Tactless
The Young and the Tactless is the 21st episode of the third season and the 67th overall. This episode marks the first appearance of Woody Harrelson as Nathan. Karen gets rid of her mother-in-law by leaving her with Jack and Will for the night. Grace gets to know an oddly charming neighbor. Synopsis The Goiter Karen is stressed out as her mother-in-law Sylvia Walker is in town so she finds refuge in Will's apartment since as she puts it, Sylvia "will never think to look for her in government-assisted housing". Later she brings her to the apartment and Will and Jack are surprised to see a meek and well-mannered old lady instead of the monster Karen built her up to be. However, Karen leaves before Will and Jack could notice, getting rid of Sylvia and leaving the two no choice but to bring her along to a gay bar. At the bar, Will is disappointed that no one is interested in him so Sylvia consoles him, stressing "how do you expect anything in your life to change if you don't change?". With Sylvia's words, Will takes a chance and gets a date with a younger guy named Scott. When Will thanks Sylvia for encouraging him to break his pattern, they find out that she is extremely homophobic and is unaware that she is at a gay bar with two gay men. Craw Grace goes to confront her obnoxious neighbor who took her wet laundry out of the dryer when he tells her he is making a mixtape for her girlfriend whom he had a fight with. When Grace points out how ridiculous it is, he engages her by pointing out that she is living with a gay guy instead of being in a relationship. Later, Grace finds his underwear mixed in with her laundry so she comes up to his apartment again where he invites her to a Venice-inspired dinner. Grace is confused so he explains that he set it up for his girlfriend Vicki who rejected it, which infuriates Grace. As she expresses how insulted she is being offered a "used" night in Venice, he kisses her and after a beat, she agrees to go on one date. Cast Main * Eric McCormack (Will Truman) * Debra Messing (Grace Adler) * Sean Hayes (Jack McFarland) * Megan Mullally (Karen Walker) Guest * Woody Harrelson (Nathan) * Branden Williams (Scott Sender) * Ellen Albertini Dow (Sylvia Walker) * Marshall Manesh (Mr. Zamir) Notes * Title is a play on the long-running soap opera The Young and the Restless. * Although Nathan becomes a recurring character from this episode, his name is not mentioned until 2 episodes later in The Last of the Really Odd Lovers. * The Atom Bar is a homophone of Adam Barr, a writer/producer for the show. Scott works at Gail and Patty's Video, after writer/producer Gail Lerner and make-up artist Patty Bunch who also worked on the show. * Jack accidentally blurts out that Karen is at least 42 years old as of this episode. Mullally is exactly the same age at the time it aired. * Will and Jack sing and dance to Madonna's song Music (2000) at the apartment. * Mr. Zamir is seen in the laundry room in his underwear and a sleeveless shirt. His habit of not wearing a shirt in the laundry room was prohibited by the Tenants' Association during the season 2 episode Election. * Grace mentions her co-dependent relationship with Will regarding the need for the other's approval in dating other people. This is further delved into in the episode Fred Astaire and Ginger Chicken when Will starts dating Vince. Cultural references * While talking to Nathan about his mixtape, Grace references the ending of Casablanca (1942). * Jack asks Sylvia if she ever regrets "throwing that big blue diamond in the bottom of the water where the Titanic went down," a reference to the ending of the 1997 film Titanic where the 100-year old Rose threw her diamond necklace into the sea. * Jack implies that Karen is connected to the condition of socialite Sunny von Bülow, who was still in persistent vegetative state back then. Her connection to von Bülow is referenced again in Someone Old, Someplace New, where it is implied that they are close friends. Quotes Category:Episodes Category:Season 3